Hen party thrown off flight due to ‘offensive’ T-shirts

An entire hen party were thrown off a flight after airline staff said their T-shirts were too offensive.

The excited group of 18 women arrived at East Midlands Airport on Tuesday morning to catch their 8.25am flight to Majorca for a four-day holiday.

But they were told to change their clothes or cover up the “offensive language” which was emblazoned on the back of the girl’s shirts. It read “Bitches on Tour”.

The women - aged between 35 and 60 - then put on jackets and proceeded through security and onto their flight bound for Palma with no problems.

But their holiday came to an abrupt halt when Jet2 cabin crew told them to leave the plane because of their inappropriate attire and were escorted off by police.

Bizarrely, they were even told because of the current terrorism threat the airline were clamping down on all their policies - which included wearing offensive clothing.

The group have now had to fork out an extra £2,500 to book on five flights from different airports across the UK and have not landed in Majorca.

One member of the hen party is mum-of-three Lauren Clarke, 36, from Neville Holt, near Market Harborough, who ended up travelling to Luton Airport - 87 miles away.

She said: “We sat in our seats and some of the group took their jackets off, the writing is on the back so we didn’t think it would be a problem whilst we were sitting down.

“Then a few members of the group got taken to the front of the plane where they were told they had to leave.

She said: “We sat in our seats and some of the group took their jackets off, the writing is on the back so we didn’t think it would be a problem whilst we were sitting down.

“Then a few members of the group got taken to the front of the plane where they were told they had to leave.

“They pretty much marched us off two by two and told us we would have to pay for new flights.

“The woman even told us because of the current terrorism threat they were clamping down on all their rules - one of which is offensive T-shirts.

“But what on earth has a hen-do got to do with company policies on terrorism? “We hadn’t been drinking and we weren’t being rowdy. We weren’t even sitting together on the plane.

“We’re not a group of lager louts - we are all aged between 35 to 60 and we are respectable working mums.

“We have a couple of lawyers with us and I work with special educational needs children. None of us are trouble-makers in the slightest. “The air hostesses didn’t seem to mind so much but it was a member of management who had said that we all had to leave.

“The lady who kicked us off said we had to pay for another flight too. “If that lady had told us to take them off in the first place we would have, we all had hand luggage so it wouldn’t have been a problem, but she didn’t tell us that.

“We were just thrown off. We offered to get changed quickly in the bathrooms but she wasn’t having any of it. “Its not really that offensive anyway, its a word that’s in the dictionary, and you hear much worse in everyday life.

“We were all tired from being up from 7am and hadn’t had a single drink, we’d just had some food and were looking forward to getting out there.

“Even the police officers said they thought it was ridiculous.”

Miss Clarke has claimed that they were only told to cover up in the check-in area and they did not have any problems in the other areas of the airport. The group of 18 ladies have had to pay for another flight to get to Palma and they have ended up travelling from different airports across the country.

Miss Clarke has described the bride-to-be as being “devastated” after her pre-wedding trip was nearly ruined.

The holiday has cost the group £500 each in total and some women have had to pay more than £130 for new flights on top of that.

The bride-to-be’s mother and auntie have decided not to try and re-book their flights and will no longer be travelling on the trip.

Miss Clarke added: “Its really put a downer on the whole thing. We are all hard working and were looking forward to getting away to celebrate out friends hen do.

“Its took a year to organise and the bride-to-be is beside herself. Its potentially ruined the trip.”

A Jet2.com spokeswoman said they were left with no choice but to remove the women from the flight. She said: “They were told repeatedly to cover up including by the police which they repeatedly ignored so Jet 2 were left with no other choice but to remove them from the aircraft.”

Bride-to-be Emma Green, 35, said today (Wednesday) her hen do had been left “ruined” as a result of being thrown off their flight. Speaking from their hotel in Majorca, social worker Emma, from Leicester, said: “It has completely ruined the whole experience.

“We have lost a day already and everybody is really tired from flying in from different airports. Some didn’t land until 2am this morning.

“Its going to be really hard to enjoy ourselves now. We are just gutted that it came to this when there was no need.

“Nobody even spoke to me about the T-shirts, the first I knew we were being kicked off the flight.

“The police looked bewildered by it all, I think they knew it was ridiculous. “We are all professional women mainly in our late 30s and 40s. I work with mental health patients and I am not a trouble-maker.

“We did not deserve to be treated like we did and would have covered up on the plane if we were all asked to do so.

“But the word bitch is a pretty mild curse as far as they go anyway, I hardly think the T-shirts were that offensive in the first place.”

Emma is due to marry fiance Aaron Bateman, 44, in 11 weeks time on August 26. She added: “Part of me doesn’t even want to get married now, I just feel like something will end up going wrong on the day.

“My hens have had to fork out an extra £2,000 to come on this holiday and that’s just not right. “We want an apology and compensation from Jet2 because we have been treated appallingly.”

This article was originally published in our sister title the Harborough Mail.